Onesimus, my post was reflective of what someone said to me after reading this article. Not my own personal thinking on the matter. But I hear this same type of thought, from a lot of people too, usually in editorial sections of the newspapers towards offenders.

Myself, I find that communities are not allowed to address an offender, even indirectly. Once the offense is found to be justifiable in legal charges being filed by a prosecutor, the offender is usually detained, incarcerated until their sentencing and then whisked off to fulfill their sentence of incarceration.

The community itself is left to deal with their trauma unto themselves. We read about offender(s), we sometimes read about their victim(s). It is extremely RARE that anyone reads of the offenders rehabilitation, offender treatment success, or the victim(s) successful life thereafter.

For example, there was a man Mr. Gibson living in upper Coos County, NH, and he offended once or twice, was incarcerated, was on the Sexual Offender Registry list, and came back into the community, and re-offended yet again .....

Gibson's 23-page criminal history goes back to the late 1980s, and according to the New Hampshire Sex Offender Registry, includes multiple convictions each for failing to report to court, disorderly conduct, burglary, theft, resisting arrest, simple assault, criminal threatening and criminal mischief.

In 2009, Gibson was convicted of felonious sexual assault on a child less than 13 years old and in 1999 was convicted of attempted sexual assault.

Also in 2009, Gibson was convicted of escape, simple assault and resisting arrest and in 2005 was convicted of indecent exposure and lewdness.

So yeah, even though some people would think that this sort of person, just "disappear" like in the old days, it doesn't happen that way today. They get caught, they get incarcerated, and they get out, and SOMETIMES they begin the "grooming" process and victimization AGAIN and AGAIN, not just to the "victim(s)" but the to the communities in which they reside.

If a dog bites a child, we grab the dog, lock the dog up, and mostly the dog is given the death penalty, and even the "owner" of the "pet" is located, and charged as well. If a horse breaks a leg, it is shot. Or we find an animal foaming at the mouth, bat sh** crazy, we as a human community, tend to kill the animal.

I am not advocating or suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that someone harass, maim, harm or kill anyone else for any reason whatsoever. Not even offenders of sexual abuse.

Yet, how does a community deal with and relate to sexual offenders who have abused others, in such a way, and that community witnesses a Judicial system, that simply seems to pat the hand of the offender, and later releases them back into the community, only to read about that offender re-offending over and over and over again, someone else's child, etc?

As single parent, or parents, or grandparent(s), most want to assume their communities are SAFE to live in, secure in the mental comfort that their children can be children inside and outside of their homes, free from abuse and so on that threatens a child's physical, mental and sexual well-being.

Seeing some sexual predators continuing to re-offend over and over again, angers communities across this country. Obviously the Sexual Offender Registries in each town/city, county and state isn't curtailing some deviant sexual offenders. The lists just keep getting long and longer. Some offenders are resorting to living homeless under bridges in Florida.

Subsequently the Judiciary is finding it more and more difficult to keep track of offenders, because the released offenders are released into usually the SAME communities they offended in, where there are such restrictions as not living within the areas of schools and daycare centers etc.

We live in a society that is paranoid about sexual abuse of our children, and yet it fails to realize that it is those children's own mother's, fathers, aunt or uncle, "friend-of-the-family, or grandparent, etc that can and do offend WITHIN and around the homes of their victim(s). Not usually some "stranger danger". Even preachers/priests, policeman, or judge .... can and are sexual predators against children.

Obviously, something is wrong with that Judge, giving that perp a mere 30 days incarceration. And I am sure some folks in that particular community, just as much as any other, are thinking and wishing that such a deviant person, would just "disappear".

***triggers*** offense behaviors and statsHi George Martin,I hear you. Serial offenders like that drive me bug-futz, and thinking about them can ruin my entire day.[Edit: Apologies up front. This is sort of triggering for me and it turned rambling as I sort of got verbose to compensate.]

You make so many great points! And I agree with a ton of what you say!

It's a tangled, terrible problem with no simple solution.

I totally agree with what you said about the gap between public perception (stranger in a trench coat, which still unfortunately happens and those are the really terrible rape/murder types) and most of the abuse (family or person in a position of trust) that I feel caught a lot of the time trying to explain it to people without sounding like I'm excusing the national-news-making trench coat types.

Up north the poster boy for un-reformed un-repentant monster types is the rapist/murderer of Dru Sjodin that made the news 8 years or so ago. The perp sat in prison and talked about the fact that he'd do it again if they let him out, and they let him out. (A double-tragedy since our state has a perfectly functional civil-commitment process where you can put someone who's an ongoing danger to the community in guarded care for their whole lives if that's what it takes.)

No clue what to do with that judge, either.

I hate the effects of abuse and what it does to people so bad that I'm willing to take part in a jail ministry that offers religious support, accountability, and challenge to change among its other duties. (I can't got into tons of detail as the head of the ministry does *not* like publicity.) As part of that though I have corresponded with murderers, rapists, child pornographers... I try really hard to understand that there's such a need to try and change these people.

I hate re-offending even more than offending, 'cause I can sort of grasp someone abused or warped growing up not understanding the damage they're doing. (Sort of wish I could sit them down and read half this board...) But I have so much less compassion for people who don't care, and can't/won't try to change. Those people make me glad my belief system incorporates a hell.

My state's Dept of Corrections did a huge study on re-offending and options back in 2007. They tracked 3,000+ offenders out of prison for 3-16 years. The overall re-offending rate was 12% re-arrested, 10% re-convicted, and 7% re-incarcerated (prison instead of jail or tighter probation). Perps were acquaintances 57%, family members 32%, and strangers 11%.

The big things they talked about reducing recidivism were: A] close supervision for the first 3-5 years when most re-offending happened, B] participating in treatment was a 24% drop, completing was a 50% or so drop. And more than one probation agent / LEO had talked about how the more isolated someone is the more likely they are to reoffend.

I hate the pain and suffering abuse causes. But I hit the point that for me and my skill-set and world-view, the most that I can possibly do to protect people is what I'm doing.

I considered the "disappearing" thing... and what goes through my head in terms of abuse prevention and victim's well-fare is a quote that I heard the then lieutenant governor of Texas (NOT a soft on crime state) say: The problem with automatic life sentences is that since most perps are friends and family, victims won't want to send their father/uncle/brother to prison for life.

How much silence will it create if the victim, while they're still being abused, still under the control of the grooming and their perp's lies, would have to sentence the perp to death by telling? Some would, for the violent rapes and strangers... And I think everyone gets the point at least once if not a hundred times in the healing process of wishing their perp dead. But that's years or decades down the road more often than not. Again, terrible problem and I'm not smart enough.

It's not a perfect solution. I don't think there is one because perps, crimes, and methods vary so hugely. But if writing to enemies in the hopes of changing them works one time in ten... if it's just one less re-offense in a hundred... or in my lifetime... Gotta try. I gotta try. But it does require that I study religiously and about offending all the time. I wish I could dump some stuff out of my brain. I never wanted to know it. Etc.

But THIS guy, this "pastor" who isn't just against everything I believe and stand for and everything I want to do with my life... And the judge who set him free... wow. speechless.

The Florida thing should probably be another thread. That one makes me nuts. Most of those guys aren't allowed to live anywhere but under over-passes. And that just isolates them, which just makes them more likely to offend... which means more hurt kids... GAR. Where's the solution? i'm sure I don't have it.

I'm just trying my best. I didn't mean to point fingers. I just think we need to stay better than them. Whether or not they always understood the damage they were doing (and i don't believe this pastor creep for a second) the damage tried to make us inhuman. We become inhuman... we let them win.

Not pointing fingers. If I thought people disappearing would work... I'd consider it myself.

Edited by Onesimus75 (09/27/1312:55 AM)

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